I Know Places
by Au Revior
Summary: 'I know why now I wanted to be a hero Arthur, Not only because it would help others,but it's because I wanted to save you all along..' Sometimes, putting distance between is what can bring two people closer together than they ever were.
1. Chapter 1

I Know Places.

It's been hard. Very hard for the both of them. Alfred was often going on business trips, Arthur stayed behind and went along with his day, keeping up with the daily house needs. He tried to keep his head held high, but the more he tried, the more it seemed to become impossible. The more his little act crumbled. The more everything just seemed to keep falling apart.

Alfred often called when he got his chances and would ask how Arthur was holding up and saying his I love you's and that he would be home as soon as possible. That's mostly how everyday went. He would also send him things from where ever he was at.

Arthur sighed, he just didn't know what to do anymore. He didn't know why he was still here if Alfred was always gone. Sure, he understands that Alfred had things to do, but did it always have to be all the bloody time?

It as honestly frustrating and awfully lonely. He has gone through Alfred leaving before, didn't see him for years. But now that he and Alfred had figured things out, they were happy and finally able to be with each other and then. He just leaves. All over the place and sometimes it takes him over a month to get back.

It hurts, It's lonely, its too quiet, too dull, too..well..Lifeless.

Even though Francis and Antonio came around and always bugged him, he was still in fact, very much alone

He sighed and walked into the living room, plopping himself down onto the couch and grabbing his book off the coffee table. He groaned once he realized he hadn't gotten his afternoon tea. He could never read without his tea. It just soothed him in the strangest way.

He set his book back down, got up, and walked to the kitchen He would have to clean it later, he was slightly disgusted with himself knowing he let it get so out of hand.

Listening to the noise around him, it was completely silent until he heard the chirping of the birds outside the window. He payed it no attention and started cleaning now instead of having to do it later. Plus, he didn't want this place a mess when Alfred got back.

He heard the faint buzzing of his phone on the coffee table, he suspected it was Alfred. Of course It was, who else bothers to call him besides that bloody frog?

He shuffled over to the coffee table and picked up the phone, looking at the contact name to see "Hero" He smiled lightly, he never remembered putting that as Alfred's contact name.

He quickly swiped his thumb across the screen, answering the call. "Hello?"

"Arthur!" the Americans loud voice screeched from the other side, Arthur naturally pulled the phone away from his ear. It's not the first time hes done that. He does that purely to annoy Arthur, but it doesn't bother the brit much due to having long grown used to the screaming

"Hello Alfred, hows your trip going? And how many times do I need to tell you to stop yelling like that? You're going to blow my ear drums out if you keep it up" He scolded lightly, Alfred ignored him and continued his usual loud obnoxious speaking.

"Well anyways dude, I'll be home later tonight!" The words made Arthur smile instantly, his excitement starting to bubble up. His loneliness starting to ebb away at the words instantly.

"-And we got very lucky!" Alfred said while chuckling. Arthur was too caught up in the wonderful words that were ricocheting inside his head.

"Pardon, what was that?" He asked, feeling guilty for not paying attention for what Alfred had to say. Alfred chuckled for a minute and Arthur could practically see him rolling his eyes, " you must be getting old Iggy if you aren't listening to what the hero has to say! But i said, I won't be going on business trips that often anymore, and that's why we got very lucky! We can spend more time together now" His voice level dropped an octave, which made Arthur realize he wasn't kidding this time.

He certainly hoped he wasn't. He better not, or else he may not be able to hang on to what they had anymore.

"Arthur?" Alfred asked, his voice was softer now. "Yes?" Arthur responded and his voice cracked in the process. He wasn't sure if he was breaking down from happiness, or from all the bottled up emotions. "I love you, Arthur. You know that right?" Arthur wasn't really paying attention at this point, too caught up of images of Alfred coming home.

"Mhmm, of course I do, you tell me every day after all" His excitement immediately began to dissolve and was replaced by curiosity and a hint of fear, He hesitated to ask, "..why?" "Just making sure...I'll be home around Four a.m. And you sound tired. Go get some rest okay?" He sounded genuinely worried, so Arthur nodded even thought the other couldn't see him,

Now that he thought of it, he hadn't been getting much rest due to their problem of being separated all the time. The bed just seemed too big, too cold, So usually, Arthur would have to sleep on the couch. But would only get an hour or two of sleep, and that was it.

It wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, but it was better than a half empty bed.

"I think I will, I love you too, wake me when you get here please" Alfred usually let him rest when he came back merely because he knew Arthur didn't get much sleep while he was away on his trips. He smiled and laughed brightly "I sure will! Plus I have to share something else with you.." His sentence trailed off and he stayed silent for a moment.

"Arthur?" He heard light rustling on the other end and soft snoring. He shook his head and laughed. "I'll see you later Arthur"

And the line went dead.

Alfred smiled and shrugged on his bomber jacket. Excited to see his lover after three weeks of being separated, he never thought things would end up in such a way. With him having to leave Arthur behind and all alone. He knew perfectly well what him leaving did to Arthur. He honestly wasn't on business trips at all.

He was just traveling. Wanting to see the world, Being the hero and helping others because that's what hero's do right? Sure he felt bad about leaving Arthur all the time and lying about the business trips..

but a hero's gotta do what a hero's gotta do right?

But then again, he wasn't sure if this was even right. Or who he was actually being a hero for. Or how it started, or why.

'_Am I really a hero?' _Of course he was, to everyone else of course.

But Arthur.

He seemed to be the opposite of what he wanted to be for him. Of what _he _wanted to be. Hero's didn't lie to their loved ones, at least..that's what he thought.

But he would make it up to him he promised, He always kept his promises because that's what hero's do.

He had a good reason for lying, Arthur was sure going to like it if his plan worked the way he wanted it to.

He prayed it would otherwise all this traveling would be for nothing.

'_please don't let this be all for nothing..' _He fidgeted with the object in his right jacket pocket,nervous about going home for the first time.

Still, he shoved it out and replaced it with a bright smile, swinging open his door and running out. He would miss his flight if he kept stalling any longer. Hero's can't be late after all.

_'I know why now I wanted to be a hero Arthur, Not only because it would help others,but it's because I wanted to save you all along..' _He grinned and finished off his sentence _'..today is going to be the day I finally save you' _

And maybe, he really is going to be the one to save him.

He was going to be his hero, thats of course, everything ran smoothly.


	2. I'll see you soon

Chapter Two

I'll see you soon.

1:23 a.m.

It was dark the room was silent, excusing the occasional creaking of the house leveling itself out.

The light buzzing of Arthur's phone making him groan and turn over, not wanting to be bothered at such an hour. But no matter what he did to try and block out the noise, it kept buzzing. He figured he better be something important or else they would have stopped after the first try. He did usually pick up his phone on the third or fourth ring.

Rolling over and picking the phone off the floor, bringing it close to his face with one eye open to see who it was.

Matthew, he hasn't talked to the Canadian in quite some period of time.

Yawning, He picked it up.

"Hello?" He asked tiredly, already falling back asleep. "H-Hello Arthur, i'm sorry to bother you at such an hour, but it seems Alfred's flight has been delayed, he says he should be home soon and that hes very sorry about it" His voice was small and he sounded tired, maybe he was sleeping when Alfred had called him and gave him message?

Arthur sat up, sighing and running a hand through his birds nest of hair, "Thank you for telling me but may I ask why he just didn't call me himself?" He got up slowly and walked to the window, pulling the curtain back to look at the amount of light that was present.

"I'm not sure..he just asked me to tell you, he sounded ready to burst. He might have been afraid of taking his anger out on you accidentally and called me instead?" It does seem like a great possibility Alfred would be afraid of bursting and taking it out on Arthur.

Arthur nodded "I see, That sounds something like"- he yawned softly -"Like something he would do. Thank you again"

"Anytime, good night Arthur" The line went dead and he let the curtain fall shut as he walked back to the couch.

His mind still wondered why Alfred did not just call him himself, maybe he knew how grumpy Arthur could get when awoken at such an hour? He just didn't know.

No he was fully awake, not knowing what to do. It was quiet and dark, only a sliver of moonlight slithering in from the cracks here the curtain did not cover on the sides.

"I suppose I can go for a walk..." Walks were always a good way to waste time.

Grabbing his coat and pulling on his shoes, he headed out the door. Not bothering to lock it or grab his phone.

He stood on the porch for a moment, looking around and seeing the empty cold wet streets lit up only by yellow light bulbs coming from the street laps on every corner.

He looked up at the one above him, being able to stare straight into it due to the dull lighting it gave off.

Arthur looked away when he felt the need to start blinking. He blinked slowly, looking around again before turning to his left and starting to walk down the sidewalk. Purposely jumping in little piles of water when he saw one.

Sighing, he noticed that the air was cold enough to where he could see his own breath. He scoffed and muttered something about how he "hated this weather" of course it was a lie, he was a Pluviophile, a rain lover in other words.

Looking up at the sky, a thin smile made its way to his lips as he let the soft dribble of rain drops hit his face. From someone elses angle he probably looked very weird, sitting there smiling up at the sky.

"Arthur?" He turned around quickly, searching for the person who called his name. Unfortunately, there was no one there. "Maybe I'm just really tired and should go home.." he muttered to himself, mentally debating if maybe he was just hearing things.

"Am I that tired?" He rubbed one eye softly and turned around, heading back towards the house. Stopping to yawn and stretch, then to take a look at his surroundings. Shrugging, he clasped his hands behind his back and headed down the street.

1:59 am.

Opening the door and softly swinging it shut, Arthur kicked off his shoes; not caring where they landed. He was tired and ready to go back to sleep. To curl up on the couch and shut his eyes and probably sleep till Alfred returned.

Seeing a little green light flicker off and on, Arthur picked up his phone and turned it on. He squinted his eyes, not ready for the sudden brightness.

He had five messages and two missed calls. Sighing, he unlocked it and tapped at his screen to read the messages.

1:30 a.m.

_From: Hero._

_Hey Artie, I might be running a bit late, but ill be there soon I promise. _

1:32 a.m

_From: Hero._

_Well, I was supposed to leave about thirty minutes ago. Urgh, I really want to see you. _

1: 41 a.m.

_From: Hero._

_Oh thank goodness my flight is here. Heh. See you in a bit._

1:48 a.m.

_From: Hero._

_Arthur you better not be out drinking or else you're really going to get it when I get home.._

Arthur laughed and scoffed at the same time, he had stopped drinking two months ago, Alfred always seemed to forget that though, or maybe he simply didn't know. He pondered on if he told hi or not.

Looking up at the top of the screen, the clock read in bright blue letters.

2: 12 a.m.

He hadn't realized he had been standing there for so long. He must have drifted off.

Scrolling down he read the last message.

1: 53 a.m.

_From: Hero._

_You know, you've been wanting to travel right? Well, I know places, places you would love, places I would love to take you. I've actually planned some already. Hope you don't mind, I was going to tell you about it when I actually got home, but I can't seem to wait._

_So Arthur, I know some places we can go;_

_Will you go with me?_

Arthur stared at the screen with wide green eyes, its true, he had always been wanting to travel, every since he was little, hes been to near places like Ireland and France, but never really anywhere out that catched his interests.

His thumbs seemed to move on their own. Typing the one word that would get them together for a long while,

"_yes_"

10:34 a.m.

He didn't know exactly when he had fallen asleep, he just knew he did. Looking around, Arthur noticed he was in bed. Problem was he never slept in the bed when Alfred was gone.

Sitting up, Arthur looked around. It was quiet, there was rays of sunlight peeking out of the side of the curtains where it didnt cover properly.

"Oh good you're awake, Do you want to good or bad news first?"

He didn't want anything but to go back to sleep.

"The...good news" Arthur said hesitantly, looking up at the grumpy Italian in his door way. "Well, the bastards's alive"

Arthur tilted his head to the side; confused.

"Who?" "the hamburger bastard you tea loving idiot" Romano scoffed, then sighed. "I'm sorry; i meant Alfred. Hes alive" He was just grumpier than usual because Antonio had kept trying to flirt with him all day.

"Thats..good but" He got up quickly. "What happened to him?!" he was starting to panic now not knowing what happened or where Alfred was.

"Plane Crash"


End file.
